The maximum quantum of business has come from the futures trade in farm items such as guar seed, soyabean, soy oil and mustard seed as well as commodities such as energy and crude oil

The turnover of 23 commodity exchanges surged by over 50% to Rs69.70 lakh crore till February of the current fiscal due to a sharp rise in participation of agricultural and other commodities, the Forward Markets Commission (FMC) has said.

The turnover of commodity bourses had stood at Rs46.40 lakh crore in the same period last year, it said.

The maximum quantum of business has come from the futures trade in farm items such as guar seed, soyabean, soy oil and mustard seed as well as commodities such as energy and crude oil, data released by commodity markets regulator FMC showed.

Among 23 commodity bourses, the country's leading exchange Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX)'s turnover soared by 42% to Rs57.70 lakh crore during April-February of FY10, against Rs40.60 lakh crore in the same period last year.

The business of the leading agri-commodity bourse National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX) rose significantly by 69% to Rs8.30 lakh crore from Rs4.90 lakh crore, while National Multi-Commodity Exchange of India Limited (NMCE)'s turnover scaled up by five-folds to Rs1.90 lakh crore from Rs39,625 crore in the review period, the data showed.

The new entrant, Indian Commodity Exchange (ICEX), made business of Rs1 lakh crore since the launch of the exchange on 21 November 2009. The turnover of regional exchange National Board of Trade has risen sharply to over Rs25,000 crore so far this fiscal.

Currently, there are four national and 19 regional exchanges in the country.